Mike was the first one to notice this. When Davy came in late for the third time Mike called a stop to the practice.

"Hey Davy," Mike asked going over him "What is going on?"

"Hmm? Nothing." Davy said, "Why?" Mike looked at him.

"This is the third time you've come in late on the harmonies," Peter said.

"Sorry," Davy answered "I guess I'm still not feeling well."

"It's okay," Peter said.

"Yeah, maybe you should just stay home and get some rest?" Micky suggested.

"NO!" Davy said "no, I'm fine, really. I-I need to go for a walk. I'll be back in an hour." Davy set down his tamberiean, grabbed his coat, and looked at the faces of his bewildered band mates said 'I'll be back' once more, and left.

"Where on Earth did Davy go?" Peter asked. Micky shrugged and got up from the drums.

"Who knows, but if he's back in an hour then that means we can still practice."

"Yeah," Mike nodded as he took his guitar off and set it down on the stand, and flopped down onto the couch.

"What's up Mike?" Peter asked.

"I want to know what's going on with Davy," Mike said "I mean I have an idea, but I want to make sure. I want to hear him say it. And if it's what I think it is, then we'll need to change our lifestyle a little bit." Peter looked at him.

"Does Davy have cancer?" Mike smiled.

"No, nothing like that." Mike said "its not my place to tell."

"Oh," Peter said nodding "Okay, but he's not going to die is he?"

"No," Mike said "not if I can help it," he said the last part in an undertone so Micky and Peter couldn't hear. They amused themselves by trying to play checkers three ways until the door opened and Davy came in looking much better then he had been looking.

"Hey," Mike said smiling "you're looking better." Davy grinned.

"I'm feeling better," he answered "I'm sorry for everything that happened. But I swear I can practice now and get it right."

"Okay," Micky smiled, jumping up from his seat and going to the drums. "Well, then, let's practice!"

Mike followed behind him, grabbing his guitar, but Peter stayed in the kitchen with Davy, looking at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked and Davy smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, I am," he said happily. "Why?"

Peter looked at Mike as he fiddled with his guitar, then back at Davy.

"We were just worried," he said quietly, choosing not to say what Mike had told them.

"Yeah," Davy sighed. "I'm sorry. I just needed a minute, you know. A bit of fresh air."

That was when Mike looked up at him and Davy could feel his heartbeat quicken a little. He had just sealed his fate with those words. But then Mike nodded slowly, looking back down at his guitar.

"Makes sense," he said with a slight shrug and Davy felt the relief wash over him as he went to the bandstand, grabbing his maracas and tambourine. Peter sat down at the piano, Mike counted them off, and they began to play. And it was like nothing had even happened. Davy was back to his normal self, playing and dancing around as he sang. Mike looked at him and smiled as Davy sang. They went through their set three times before Mike called it quits as the cuckoo clock started chiming noon.

"Should we go down to the hot dog stand for lunch since Davy ate most of the breakfast leftovers?" Mike asked "my treat?"

"Where did you get money?" Micky asked as he set his drumsticks down.

"None of your business," Mike said "but if you must know I took some money out of my account for groceries and rent for the month."

"You have money in your account?" Davy asked as Peter closed the balcony door and they walked down the stairs. Mike ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, it's from the army," Mike said.

"Why are you getting paid from the army?" Davy asked.

"Because I was in the army," Mike said "I just forgot that I get paid. I'm still in the reserves though and that's why I'm getting paied." Peter and Micky looked at him.

"Err, h-how long are you going to be in the reserves?" Micky asked. Mike paused and looked out at the ocean for a few moments.

"Five years," He finally said "so in 1968 I won't be in the air force anymore."

"That's next year," Peter said Mike nodded.

"Yeah, but I can get pulled out of retirement if they need me," Mike said as he continued to walk to the hot dog stand.

"So, why are we just hearing that you're still getting paid?"

"Because I honestly forgot that the army still pays me." Mike said.

"Really?" Micky asked and Mike nodded.

"I know you might not believe me," he said. "But I don't need to go into my bank account all that often, so I forget that there's still money being put into it."

"That makes sense," Peter said with a nod, but Micky wasn't ready to drop it yet.

"Why don't you go into your account often?" He asked and Mike let out a long and draining sigh.

"Because I don't need to," he said as they approached the hot dog stand, pulling his wallet from his pocket.

"Hi, can I help you?" The salesman said from behind the stand.

"Yes," Mike said, flipping through his bills. "Four please–"

"Three," Davy interrupted and they all turned to him.

"I'm pretty full actually," he said quietly. "So I don't need one."

Mike looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Okay," he said, turning back around and placing the money on the counter. "I guess that's three then."

As the salesman prepared the three, Peter and Micky turned to face Mike, wide-eyed.

"What?"

"You actually got something for yourself," Peter said, genuinely amazed. "But you never get anything for yourself."

Mike shrugged.

"I'm hungry," he justified, not bothering to hide his amusement. "I'm allowed to eat every now and then when I'm hungry, aren't I?"
Micky gasped.

"Who are you and what have you done with our Mike?" He asked and Mike chuckled, shaking his head.

"There you go," the salesman said, pushing the three hot dogs onto the counter. Mike took the ketchup and mustard bottles as well as the bowl of relish. He was about to add them on, when Micky gasped again.

"Now, he's using condiments!" He exclaimed and Mike smiled, shrugging.

"I guess today is just the day for changes for all of us, isn't it?"

The others laughed at the comment, but Davy just frowned, looking at Mike with an almost frightened expression. He knew that Mike didn't mean anything by it, but that's not how it felt. There was still something almost accusatory about his statement that made Davy anxious.

"What?" Mike asked looking at Davy.

"Nothing," Davy said quickly.

"Bull Shit." Mike said taking a bite from his hot dog "you look like I'm going to jump you in a dark ally."

"It's nothing," Davy said quickly. Mike frowned but nodded.

"It's not 'nothing' but I'll drop it for now," Mike said "I want to talk about this though." Davy nodded sighing. Micky and Peter looked at each other.

"Why do I have a feeling that our lives just got spun upside down like The Zipper at the fair?" Micky asked. Mike sighed.

"Probably because it did."

Davy frowned and looked at Mike, wanting to object. He let out a sigh and shook it off, beginning to walk ahead of the others.

"Hey, Davy?" Peter asked, jogging to catch up with him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he sighed. "I just had a rough night…but I'm fine, yeah."

Peter frowned but nodded, looking up at Mike, who let out a heavy sigh.

"Davy, stop," he said, causing him to freeze as the other three caught up to him. "I understand that you're upset and stressed out about whatever but you need to relax. We're not going to hurt you."

Davy turned around and looked at him, for a long moment, before nodding slowly.

"Okay…" he said quietly, looking down. "I'm sorry."

Mike nodded in response.

"Okay," he said. "You're forgiven, but we need to talk about this. We're worried about you."

Davy smiled slightly.

"I know," He said, "And I am sorry for acting like this."

"So you said," Mike said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Mike?" Micky asked shooting Mike a concerned look "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just frustrated." Mike said "Davy's hiding something and I don't like it. I mean, keeping secrets is fine. Lord knows we all have some, but he almost seems fearful of me, like I'm going to hurt him. That's unlike Davy." Micky looked at Davy and Peter, who had passed both of them and were already walking up the step to the house.

"It is unlike him now that you mention it." Micky said "You never hurt any one of us. So why would he act fearful?" Mike shrugged.

"That's what I aim to find out," Mike said.

"Good luck." Micky said smiling "last one up to the pad is a rotten egg." And he took off running Mike looked at him for half a beat and pelted after Micky both laughing.